|
Classics
Advisory Service
updated 30 January 2007
Welcome to the American Philological Association's
Classics Advisory Service. The CAS is a
service to help college and university teachers maintain
and strengthen their programs in Classics (broadly
understood to include Greek and Latin languages and
literatures, history, archaeology, and all other aspects
of classical civilization). Among the services we provide
are assistance with external Program
Reviews, and advice and support for strengthening
current programs and preserving
threatened programs. At this site you will also find
General Advice on building and maintaining Classics and
information about the APA
Database. The APA now also provides guidelines
for establishing and improving undergraduate programs For
links to other organizations and further resources for
Classicists, see the APA
Home Page.
General Advice
As the twenty-first century begins, the general
assault on higher education, which is part financial and
part ideological, has important consequences for
Classics. The financial assault, which is especially
threatening to public institutions, hurts Classics and
other small programs which do not fare well when compared
to larger programs by the quantitative measures favored
by American business management. The ideological assault
may fault Classics either because as a conservative
(Western, male, imperialist, etc.) subject it has long
served a social and academic elite, or because it, along
with other humanistic disciplines, incorporates
subversive activities like "theory."
There is no single solution to meeting these threats,
but among the strategies that have proven effective are
the following.
- Understand financial conditions and tailor
your needs accordingly. This involves learning
about
- the budgetary situation of your institution and
any institutions that directly affect it, such as
the state or local community that supports a public
institution or the church that supports a religious
institution.
- the financial structure of your institution.
Where does funding come from? Who controls or
influences funding sources?
- other funding sources. Are there special funds
in the institution (not necessarily in Classics)
that could be used for Classics-related activities?
What groups or individuals in the state or local
community might be interested (or become
interested) in supporting a Classics activity?
Once you understand financial conditions you may
want to modify your priorities. For example, if money
is available for technological resources but not for
library books, look for technology that will benefit
Classics; don't abandon requests for books, but
supplement them with other efforts. Or, if a local
military buff can be induced to fund a conference on
ancient warfare, it may be good for your program to
organize such a conference even if you have little
interest in the subject.
- Understand the power structure of your
institution. Who makes important decisions? What are
their interests? As in the preceding, look for ways to
take advantage of special interests of these
decision-makers.
- Know your constituencies. At first you may
think only of students in your courses, but Classics
can also serve
- Faculty and students in many other areas
- Secondary school teachers and students
- Alumni
- The community
To the extent that you do serve these
constituencies, they can be called on for support in
times of need. For example, helping high-school Latin
teachers strengthen their programs may not only
provide you with some better prepared entering
freshmen but with additional supporters in the
community (teachers, students and parents). In this
regard you should join and work with all relevant
organizations, especially local, state and
regional associations of Classics teachers.
Information about these can be found from the
APA Home
Page.
- Build connections, especially with other
departments and programs that are strong on campus.
The field of Classics offers almost unlimited
possibilities for making connections with other areas.
Even professional schools like business (the ancient
economy), medicine (Ancient medicine), and law (Greek
or Roman law) can find connections with
Classics. Seek out strong faculty and programs and
look for ways to work together. Be creative and you
can not only make your own programs more interesting
but at the same time can generate important support
for Classics elsewhere on campus.
Program Review
A Program Review is a visit by an outside reviewer or
reviewers whose task is to assess in a written report the
strengths and weaknesses of a particular department or
program. These are usually conducted by a team of two or
three reviewers, but single reviewers or larger teams or
review committees are possible. The team normally spends
two full days on campus talking with administrators,
Classics faculty, students and staff, and faculty and
others in other departments or programs related to
Classics. The Team tries to be supportive of the Program
but not without being critical at the same time. (Reviews
that give nothing but praise and support may please the
Classicists but tend to be disregarded by
administrators.) The main task is to offer realistic,
constructive support. Most Program Reviews are helpful
and produce positive results for the program.
The CAS does not conduct the Program Reviews
itself; its role is advisory. If a department or program
wants to have a Review, it may contact the CAS Director
for advice about the process and for suggestions about
individuals who might be good reviewers. We have
considerable experience with reviewers and can suggest
people who have been effective in the past. We can also
try to fit your needs in terms of finding reviewers from
your geographical area (often desirable for cost-savings,
if nothing else), and from a specific kind of
institution, small or large, public or private, etc. The
CAS will only suggest names; the program in question will
decide who it wants. A program may, of course, establish
a Program Review without using the CAS; some institutions
have a regular review process for reviewing all their
departments. The advantage of using the CAS, especially
for less well-established departments or programs, is
both to lend the support of the APA to the final report,
and to get help with the selection of referees and other
matters.
What to do: If you want the help of CAS in
conducting a Program Review, you may contact the
Director, Stephen A. Nimis, Professor of Classics, Miami University, Oxford OH 45056, 513-529-8376, nimissa@muohio.edu.
However, you should first check with your Dean or other
adminstrator to enlist their support, which is needed for
two reasons. First, if you don't have support from
someone higher up, the Review will probably do no good.
Second, you will need to have funds to pay the expenses
of the reviewers (see below). (The CAS has no funds and
cannot help with this.) The CAS director will discuss
your situation and needs and will offer some names of
possible reviewers. We will contact reviewers if you
wish, or you may contact them yourself. It is up to you,
however, to make all the arrangements for the visit and
to work with the reviewers and others to make the visit
as productive as possible. The CAS is always willing to
offer advice but takes no direct role in the Review. We
will receive a final copy of the report and will want to
hear back from you about the whole experience, in part so
that we may better advise others in the future.
Expenses are usually no more than transportation,
housing (usually for two nights), and meals.
Transportation is usually the major expense, and
sometimes dictates having reviewers from close by, but
airfares are such these days that a short trip may
sometimes cost more than a long one. Some institutions
will add an honorarium for the reviewers; this is
certainly nice but not obligatory. (In my experience
honorariums are offered less than half the time and
usually range from $100 to $400.)
Program strengthening
- Read the information on this Home Page,
especially the General Advice
given above. Then assess your own situation as
realistically as possible. The APA now also
provides guidelines
for establishing and improving undergraduate
programs
- Join all relevant organizations, regional,
state and local. If you're not already a member ,
join the APA and familiarize yourself with
its resources. For membership information see the
APA Home
Page.
- Establish contacts as widely as possible. These
may range from Classics colleagues in major
research departments (especially if they are close
by) to local teachers (just call the schools --
public and private -- and ask for the Latin
teacher). You should definitely know all the
classicists in the near vicinity, especially if
your institution is somewhat isolated.
- Attend meetings. The APA's annual meeting has
many useful program sessions in addition to the
Workshop on Small
Departments organized during the 1996 meeting.
Most other organizations meet at least annually and
generally include pedagogical and program-enhancing
sessions.
- Seek out and get to know individuals in
situations like yours. Many others have been in
similar situations at similar institutions or are
facing similar crises (financial or otherwise)
today. They can give advice and provide moral
support. And they may also be able to offer ways of
sharing resources or collaborating on projects,
which can be especially helpful for small
departments.
Program rescue
If your Program is threatened with a cut in positions
or funding, or some other measure that will weaken
Classics (such as elimination of a major), you should
contact following people. It is important to give them as
much information as possible about your situation.
- The Director of CAS,
Stephen A. Nimis
Professor of Classics
Miami University
Oxford OH 45056
513-529-8376
nimissa@muohio.edunimissa@muohio.edu
http://montgomery.cas.muohio.edu/nimissa
- The Executive Director of the APA,
Adam
D. Blistein. Telephone:
215-898-4975
FAX: 215-573-7874
- The President or appropriate officer of
any other Regional, State or Local
Organization. The largest of these is CAMWS
(Classical Association of the Middle West and
South), which covers more than half of the US and
Canada. For links to CAMWS and other organizations,
see the APA Home
Page.
All these individuals can give you specific advice,
can contact Deans and others at your institution,
and can generate support from others in the field.
The Executive Director can give you especially
useful information from the APA Database . Be
forewarned, however, that others can only help. You
and your colleagues must be willing to work
aggressibley not only to escape the immediate
threat but also to build for the long term.
Director's Reports
2006
2005
2004
1998-99
1997-98
1996-97
1995-96
1994-95
End of CAS information. Return to beginning.
Send comments to
Stephen A. Nimis
Professor of Classics
Miami University
Oxford OH 45056
513-529-8376
nimissa@muohio.edunimissa@muohio.edu
http://montgomery.cas.muohio.edu/nimissa
Home
|